Simulation of Dislocated Flux in Space Plasma Environments: Applications in Geospace Modeling and Ionosphere-Magnetosphere Coupling

Abstract

In this study, simulations of a dislocated flux tube are used to model oscillatory flow events and to explore possible ionospheric-magnetospheric coupling mechanisms. A numerical code called the Thin Filament Code (TFC) has been developed using a thin filament approximation to simulate flux tube motion in a stationary 2D background. Previous studies using similar magnetohydrodynamic thin filament models have been used to describe fast flow events and interchange oscillations in the Earth’s plasma sheet. A significantly extended numerical model is employed to explore additional applications. Simulation results include the time evolution of isolated flux tubes with a wide range of stationary background environments and boundary conditions defined by field aligned current systems. Simulations suggest that ionospheric disturbances can introduce waves that propagate to the magnetosphere triggering activity in the magnetotail. Oscillatory motion is simulated on a background model fitted to observation demonstrating new capabilities of the TFC.